The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to spectral methods and systems, more particularly, but not exclusively, to time-resolved spectral methods and systems for determining an egg condition.
Each year billions of eggs are produced in the United States. Duration of incubation for chicken eggs hatching takes about 21 days and consumes time and energy. At least 50% of fertilized eggs contain male chicks, which are useless to a hatchery that is dedicated to raising egg-laying hens. The determination of the sex of the chick is typically not performed until the chick is hatched, at which point, male chicks are disposed of. In addition, a significant percentage, typically 10 to 40%, of eggs is infertile. These useless eggs consume space and energy within an incubator, and can also cause contamination of other eggs. In addition to the energy costs of incubating a useless egg to maturity, there is the problem of eliminating the male chicks after hatching. In such an industry, efficient quality control and limiting production costs are required. To this end, a number of non-invasive techniques have been developed for assessing the condition of unhatched eggs.
Time-resolved spectral imaging, which acquires spectral information at a desired time scale, may be used for detecting various agricultural products.